Recent News

A Personal Look at a National Problem (U.S News & World Report)

May 18th, 2017

It was fun. It made them feel good. It took away the pain.

Jim, Morgan, John, and Andrea never met. From different states, age groups, and backgrounds, it was unlikely they ever would. And yet they all were tempted by the same thing: opioids.

For Jim Stallings, and 91 Americans every day, it only took one more time.

Born and raised in Maryland, Stallings, his mother recalls, was funny and compassionate, always taking the side of the underdog. He loved fishing, grilling and tinkering with anything mechanical.

But in 1981, when he was 13, Stallings began taking prescription drugs at what were then called "fruit bowling" parties. These days they are known as "Skittles Parties," where teenagers raid their family medicine cabinets, dump whatever pills they find in a bowl and take them at random.

Read the entire story.

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen and Dr. Wen Discuss Expanding Treatment for Addiction and Substance Use Disorders

May 15th, 2017

Dr Wen and Senator Van Hollen Visiting Tuerk House in Baltimore City to Expand Substance Use Addiction Access

Gutting Medicaid will harm generations to come (Opinion Baltimore Sun)

May 15th, 2017

Elijah Cummings, Leana S. Wen, Kevin Lindamood

A bill to fundamentally change the way Americans purchase and receive health care passed the House of Representatives and is now waiting consideration in the Senate. The bill, which was opposed by nearly every major medical organization, threatens the health and well-being of millions of Americans with public and private insurance.

The bill would effectively gut Medicaid, the program that today, thanks to expansion under the Affordable Care Act(ACA), ensures health services for 74 million Americans, including nearly 1.3 million Marylanders. As leaders and frontline health professionals, we see daily how Medicaid saves lives and provides hope and stability, and our state must join a growing national effort to preserve it.

On Monday, we will join with leaders from the NAACP, Health Care Access Maryland, Health Care for All! and advocates around the state at a public forum to advance our work here in Maryland to save Medicaid. We start that work by making sure elected officials and fellow citizens alike know and understand the role of Medicaid in safeguarding health and life in Baltimore, Maryland and nationally.

Read entire op-ed.

Sen. Van Hollen says GOP backing off on treatment (WMAR)

May 15th, 2017

Right now five dozen addicts call the Tuerk house in West Baltimore their home and on this day, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen stops by to offer hope for the hundreds of people stuck on its waiting list.

Van Hollen and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen toured the facility and listened to stories of hope from its residents at a time when hope for added treatment dollars is waning in Washington.

"Just yesterday, the U.S. Attorney General, Attorney General Sessions, decided to roll back some of the progress we've made at the federal level under the Obama administration where they were telling prosecutors to deal with substance abuse with more care and not simply locking people up," said Van Hollen.

It is a point not lost upon Baltimore's health commissioner who advocates treating addiction like a disease, not like a moral decision or crime.

Read the entire story. 

Baltimore City Health Department Announces Beginning of 2017 Code Red Season

May 15th, 2017

BALTIMORE, MD (May 15, 2017)—The Baltimore City Health Department today announced the start of Baltimore City’s Code Red program for the coming summer.

Code Red is a multi-agency effort to provide heat education and cooling relief to vulnerable populations in Baltimore. Throughout the summer, City agencies provide public education to residents about the effects of sustained heat on health and perform community outreach regarding energy assistance programs for senior residents and other susceptible groups through Community Action Partnership Centers.

Commissioner's Corner: Addressing health disparities across the life course

May 12th, 2017

At the Baltimore City Health Department, we believe that where a person lives should

Microblading is popular but getting it done at a salon is illegal (ABC2 News)

May 12th, 2017

Baltimore City health officials are warning residents to do their research before paying for cosmetic tattooing.

Unlicensed Baltimore salons offering tattoo eyebrow services pose health risks (Baltimore Sun)

May 12th, 2017

Baltimore health officials are warning residents that it is illegal and a health hazard to get inked in eyebrows at salons.

Many people don't realize that the procedures, which involves using needles to draw eyebrows with permanent, semi-permanent or long-lasting make up is considered illegal, according to a release from the Baltimore City Health Department. The salons often market the procedure as "microblading".

The department regulates tattoo parlors because the process can lead to bacterial infections and the spread of diseases such as HIV. Tattooing of any kind for compensation may only be done in a licensed tattoo facility by artists who are registered with the health department. 

Read entire story.

AIDS Walk Baltimore raises $100,000 (Washington Blade)

May 12th, 2017

Some 600 attendees including volunteers participated in the annual AIDS Walk & Run Baltimore at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore on May 7. The event raised nearly $100,000 to support Chase Brexton Health Care’s HIV/AIDS outreach and infectious disease and case management services, which provide critical HIV/AIDS care and prevention in Baltimore. 

Special guests included Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen; Chase Brexton President and CEO Patrick Mutch; emcee Chardelle Moore of Fox 45 Baltimore; with music by DJ Shay and the Baltimore Gay Men’s Chorus.

“In Baltimore City, 1 in 6 people who have HIV do not know that they are infected,” Wen said in a statement. “With our partners across the city, including Chase Brexton, we have made significant progress to increase testing, provide education, and connect people to treatment. We must continue this fight together and prevent and treat our family, friends, and community members.”

Read the entire story.

Carfentanil poses risk to Maryland's first responders (ABC 2 News)

May 10th, 2017

BALTIMORE, Md. - A synthetic opiate is responsible for four recent deaths in Maryland. Heroin and fentanyl killed hundreds in the last year but carfentanil is stronger than both and threatens the lives of its users as well as the people who come to their aid.

In the war on heroin, medics are on the front lines. They receive a daily barrage of calls for drug overdoses.

“I bet at this station they get about 10 a day for OD's,” said Rick Hoffman, president of IAFF Local 734 Baltimore firefighters.

Hoffman represents the first responders in the City with the most heroin-related deaths in the state. Three-hundred forty two people lost their lives in the first nine months of 2016.

...

“We know that fentanyl is being trafficked from other countries and being mixed in with heroin and other drugs without the person using the drugs knowing it, so it's possible that carfentanil can also follow a similar pattern and cause many more deaths,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen.

Watch the entire story.

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